Don't Make Others Clean After Your Dog, And Other Takeaways From The Fall Of A Congressman

Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett brought enthusiasm to his new office in the House of Representatives in January 2017. Then he brought his wife, then his dog, and things went downhill.

Now the congressman has announced he won't even seek his first reelection, in the wake of reports of staff mutinies and erratic, vacillating behavior by Garrett himself.

Last Friday, Politico reported that ex-staffers have accused Garrett and his wife, Flanna, of treating employees like personal butlers, valets and chauffeurs—apparently in violation of House ethics rules.

Garrett dismissed those allegations in a news conference Monday as "a series of half-truths and whole lies." But if, say, a charge that he and his wife expected staff members to run errands for them is "half" true, we still have a problem.

Garrett did concede he hadn't been honest about his personal life, telling reporters: "The tragedy is that any person, Republican, Democrat or Independent, who’s known me for any period of time and has any integrity knows two things: I am a good man and I am an alcoholic."

That's an odd sort of confession, implying that it takes integrity to know he's an alcoholic with a heart of gold. But let's take a look at a few lessons from Garrett's meteoric flame-out.

1. When you go to work in the morning, don’t take your family with you, no matter how much you enjoy their company.

Flanna accompanied him to the office most days, according to ex-staffers speaking to Politico on the condition of anonymity. There, she made her presence and her demands known. As Politico reported, “The staffers said they feared that if they refused Garrett‘s or his wife’s orders — both were known for explosive tempers — they would struggle to advance in their careers.”

2. Your dog may be your best friend, but it’s not your staff’s best friend.

Garrett and Flanna regularly brought Sophie, their Jack Russell-Pomeranian mix, to the office so everyone could enjoy her company ... and tend to her needs ... and clean up her poop. This predictably added to workplace frustrations.

3. If you do bring your dog to work but forget to take her back home, don't just "ask" someone on your staff to shuttle her home.

This apparently happened regularly too. Again, staffers were too nervous to protest such demands, fearing retribution. Instead, they slipped away with one of the highest turnover rates for any congressional office. And then they grumbled with a vengeance to reporters who were willing to listen.

4. It may take a village to raise a child, but don’t expect a village of staff members to help keep your own household in order.

Blurring the lines between work and home is a remarkably old-school approach. It's hardly unique to the Garretts. Old-school managers and executives—typically white men of a certain age and a certain traditional cultural background—often see their spouses or partners as "co-leaders” who legitimately share authority and influence.

And because these managers feel they and their spouses are working 24/7 on behalf of their organization, it seems like nothing to them to expect staff members to get involved in their household affairs.

In the Garrett family's case, Flanna apparently asked a staffer to pick her up at the grocery store and later help unload the groceries, because her husband was at a baseball game. Flanna may well have believed that Garrett's attendance at the game was part of his work, thus entitling her to a little extra help in the meantime from staff.

5. If you're hell-bent on displaying "loyalty to royalty," try to do it in a way that won't embarrass yourself later.

Contacted last week by Politico to respond to the allegations that Garrett and Flanna were using congressional staff for butlering duties, Garrett's spokesman loudly and loyally denied everything, presumably while pressing the congressman's slacks. “We see no reason to respond to anonymous, unfounded allegations primarily targeting Congressman Garrett’s wife, made by Politico's ‘unnamed’ sources,” he said. “It is easy to spread untruths and even easier to exaggerate and imply wrongdoing when none exists."

The spokesperson's words seem to indicate firmness and certainty. But it's interesting that he fudged by using the word "exaggerate": If the allegation is that staffers had to spend hours at a time driving the congressman's children around, was he implying that it didn't take quite as long as claimed? In any event, the spokesman seems to have been silent ever since.

If the congressman is indeed struggling with alcoholism, he deserves sympathy and help, and he is wise to step back from D.C. politics in order to fix his life.

However, the manner in which he and his wife treated their staff would seem to have less to do with martinis or margaritas and more to do with the generalized vanity disorder that too often affects leaders and their families as they ascend power's ladder.

All managers, executives and politicians could do well to remember the unchanging basics of leadership discipline and hygiene: Do your own dirty work as much as possible, no matter how high you rise on the power ladder. Don't expect lieutenants to get involved with your personal life. Get your own coffee, and make your own copies whenever you can. And when a staffer does help you in some small way, never take it for granted.

Rob Asghar is the author of Leadership Is Hell: How to Manage Well and Escape with Your Soul, available at Amazon.